Big fish in a small pond

I wonder how big exactly Persona 5 could be? I think any reasonably hardcore gamer would know about it, and obviously any role-playing fan but I’m going to bet that the average Call Of Duty and FIFA player is not going to have heard of it and will instantly ignore it based on the artwork. And yet there’s a good chance they would be interested in some Western role-players like Skyrim and Fallout 4.

I’m not sure there’s any changing some people though, as those games are still all about war and violence and although there is plenty of fighting in Persona it’s presented like an anime and a lot of it is intentionally pretty weird.

I’m not having a go at those that will ignore it but it does amaze me that the game has got the budget it has and that Sega/Atlus are making a big deal of it. I think the idea though is that though only a fairly narrow group of people will buy and enjoy it they’ll love it so much that the companies can make a lot of money off them. Especially when it comes to merchandise, DLC, spin-offs, etc.

Hopefully that does work out for them because I’d like to think big budget niche games are not something that’s going to go away.Onibee

Nerfing the old guard

A very fair review of Destiny: The Taken King, I think GC. I’ve been playing it and enjoying it and although I understand why some fans have got up in arms I’m not sure it’s entirely fair. Did they really think the Gjallarhorn was going to stay the top weapon forever? It would be completely boring if it did, and obviously it has to be overtaken at some point. Making all the effort put into getting and upgrading it ultimately pointless.

That said Bungie could’ve gone about mothballing it in a better way than this. Surely having new and more powerful weapons to replace it would’ve been preferable? So that nobody wants to use it, even if they have it? Although I suppose that would upset the balancing and all the enemies would have to get much tougher to compensate.

Maybe this was the only way, and Bungie has implied the exotics might come back later, but no matter how angry you get about it I feel it’s really just a minor irritation and once you get stuck into the new content it’s really good. If this had been what Destiny was like from the start I don’t think it would have been welcomed by everyone.Grackle

The last story

Like many people I’m in two minds about a The Last Of Us sequel. Obviously I loved the original but that was because not only was it totally unique to anything I’d played but it was a complete package with a beginning, middle, and end. I know obviously they could do the further adventures of Joel and Ellie but the story wasn’t about what they were doing it was why they were doing it, and that point was made.

I think many people confuse the difference between plot and story. A plot is just what happens, but the story is what the game (or film or novel) is about. A plot can be incredibly simple, like Mad Max: Fury Road, and still have a very deep story and characters. But no matter how complicated a plot is, unless it has meaning behind it it’s all fluff. And that of course is 99 per cent of video games.

I hope Naughty Dog realise this and either create a sequel with completely new characters, with different problems or simply make something else. As far as I’m concerned Uncharted 4 wasn’t necessary either. I’d much rather they create new stories rather than rerun ones they’ve already told.Tom Meadows

Loot Pass

I really can’t say I’m too impressed with the season pass for Batman: Arkham Knight. £33 it cost me and all I’ve got out of it so far is a bunch of lame side missions and useless Batmobiles. You can’t use them for shooting things like the default one and GC were right to compare the tracks for them to Mario Kart because that’s exactly what they feel like. What the point of them is supposed to be I don’t know, and it really does seem like they took my money and they thought about what they were going to give for it later.

It’s like those lame Lootcrate things where you hand over your money and who knows what you’ll get in return. Maybe it’ll be something vaguely amusing or even something you genuinely want, but most of the time it’s just filler that you’re not even sure what it’s supposed to be.

And I thought they were promising new bad guys? From what I can see the Nightwing mission has the Penguin and Catwoman is after The Riddler. Doesn’t seem very knew to me. I really should learn not to do this…Hammeriron

Old faces

I’m really looking forwards to Street Fighter V, I like the sound of everything I’ve heard about it, but with the exception that there are only four new characters? Doesn’t that seem like not a lot? Rashid is kind of cool, in that at least he’s from a country they haven’t done before, but I can never remember the other guy’s name or where he’s supposed to be from. Which isn’t a great start.

I guess the problem is that it’s an easier sell with characters you know and probably fans are demanding all the ones under the sun they can think of. But me personally I’d prefer Capcom did what they did with Street Fighter III and try and make the majority new characters. I know a lot of them didn’t stick and it’s kind of the black sheep of the family but the game itself was a lot more technical than the others and I think that’s what hurt. It not the fact that the fighters were new.

It just seems yet another game being held back by its past as well as benefiting from it. Although maybe I’m just saying that because they’re not including my favourites…84Colbat

GC: The overall roster is quite small at launch, the idea is that new characters will continue to be added over time – presumably including new fighters as well as old.

The future of everything

VR is a tricky one to call because at this point it’s such an old idea. That might seem odd but as far as I remember this has been the future of gaming, and everything, for at least the last 20 years, probably longer.

The problem with that is that ordinary people have a good idea of what they think it should be, thanks to TV shows and movies, and I’m not sure this new generation is really going to match-up to it. The graphics quality and resolution isn’t going to be mistaken for real life and judging from talking to my friends and parents that’s what they’re expecting.

I think it’s much more likely that it’s going to end up being used for video conferencing, watching movies and sports, and things like that. Games will just be a sideline until at least a couple of generations, I reckon.Ben Crooper

One to watch

There’s been some great levels posted this last week on GameCentral for Super Mario Maker. My picks are the ones by Hotrod and Worthy, some are just so good I’m totally hooked. If people just post one level code it’s possible to see the rest of their creations entering their code and then clicking on their Mii. The community is testing my skills and also sticking a wide grin on my face with their great levels. This one is my latest creation it’s short and sweet and really is worth a play I think.

FIFA 2016… Mario Style – EFE7-0000-0060-E567N1ckTheG2eek (PSN ID)

GC: Just posting one is probably best for the future, especially once we run the article on reader’s creations next week. Our inbox at the moment is getting flooded by Super Mario Maker letters and we need to ensure a more healthy variety of subject matter.

From Jet Set Willy to Call Of Duty

I guess ’cause we’re still not quite into the busy season for new games, but it seems like everyone’s been on a bit of a retro buzz lately, what with the Amiga and Spectrum anniversaries. What interests me though is what games do and don’t stand the test of time and why. The obvious problem that almost all old games have is that they’re ridiculously hard for no real reason, but since they’re all in the same boat on that it’s not a real reason for the good ones to be ignored.

I agree that Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy are not really fun nowadays, not only because they’re too hard but because they’re not testing anything more than your memory. If you don’t know exactly where to jump at every point you can’t beat them. It’s impossible to get very far if a room is new to you and very difficult to react on the fly if anything goes wrong.

Funnily enough I think this is what’s going to date things like Call Of Duty in the future because it’s the same problem. Obviously it’s not difficult but you have to play it exactly the way it wants you to or you can’t win. The non-linearity is why something like Heads Over Heels on the Speccy or Zelda on the N64 is almost timeless but any game that forces you to do it its way is not.Ashton Marley

Inbox also-rans

I’ve always thought the Skylanders games are good, and it’s shame that the the whole toy scamming thing gives them a bad name amongst some people. Well, it’s not a scam at all if you’re into it, but I’m sure that’s how it must come across.Patney

Very late to the party here but I’ve been playing Luigi’s Mansion 2 lately and really is fantastic. What are the developers doing now? Surely that was proof enough that Nintendo should give them an even bigger project, maybe on the Wii U.MUT

This week’s Hot Topic

The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Owen, who asks how have video games affected and influenced your life in a positive way?

Inspired by the recent Horizon documentary, which proved that video games can actually be good for you, we want to know if you feel games have helped you gain particular skills, such as problem-solving, spatial awareness, and improving hand-to-eye-coordination.

Has playing games helped your social life in terms of meeting new people, exposure to new hobbies or interests, or perhaps new films, books, and music? Is there any other way games have positively affected your life, apart from simply playing them?